School Time
by Litrouke
Summary: A short little fic about hobbit children. (Set after LotR) My first LotR fic ever.


Hullo! I have to go to school tomorrow and so I decided to write a little fic about it. I'm not even sure if hobbits go to school, but in my world, they do. :D Enjoy my first ever LotR fanfic...and please R&R.

((((!!!))))

"Faramir?" Pippin asked, peering into an empty kitchen. Usually the little hobbit-lad was bouncing around the kitchen, preparing the tea, buttering the crumpets, making more jam, eating some cake, nibbling on crumbs, and generally eating away the kitchen.

But today, the kitchen lay empty.

"Faramir?" he called out again, walking towards the lad's room. Opening Faramir's door, he could only see one of his feet, the rest of him was hidden under piles of blankets and pillows on the bed. Lifting up one end of the blanket, he crouched down to look under it.

"Good morning, Da," Faramir said quietly from somewhere under the blankets.

"Good morning," he answered, sounding amused.

"Are you feeling ill?" Pippin asked innocently, though he knew the reason Faramir was hiding.

"No...not really..." the lad mumbled.

"Well, that's very good. Because if you were ill, then you wouldn't be able to attend your first day of school!" he yanked the blankets off the bed, causing Faramir to tumble to the floor.

"Then I _am_ sick! Deathly ill! One step out of Bag End and I'd die! I doubt I'd be able to get to the kitchen, never mind the school! I think I have a fever, I feel dizzy, sick to my stomach, and I've got these little bumps- I bet they're contagious- and then..." he continued on to list every symptom of illness he could think of. Pippin listened patiently as he named more and more ridiculous things. Finally, he finished with a sigh.

"Which, as anyone can clearly see, means I can't go to school this year...or at least I have to miss the first day or two," Faramir ended, looking hopefully at his father. Pippin's answer was a smile and a slow shake of his head.

"Please! Please, please, please, don't make me go! I don't learn anything, I swear! You could teach me tons more than any teacher there! Noooo!" he frantically threw out excuses not to go.

"I'm busy, and I doubt I know as much as those teachers," Pippin countered quietly, picking up the blankets and piling them back on the bed.

"In any case, Jeremiah will be there, and so will the rest of your friends," he added.

"You do too know as much! You've been on a huge adventure and seen the whole world! And, yes, my friends will be there, but so will everyone I hate," he sighed, putting on a pouting face. Pippin had chuckled at the 'seen the whole world', but now he stopped and looked at Faramir.

"Yes, everyone will be there. Those that you like and those that you don't. That's how the world is, little one. You have to deal with everyone," he said firmly. Faramir blushed, looking down to study his feet.

"So I _have_ to go?" he asked very very softly, still not looking at Pippin.

"Yes."

((((!!!)))

"Wake up, wake up, everyone! Time for breakfast!" Sam trotted through the halls, banging on everyone's door as he yelled.

"Elanor, help your mother get breakfast ready, will you? Frodo, make sure Merry and Pippin don't fall back asleep; Rose, you don't need to look beautiful just for breakfast; Merry and Pippin, listen to Frodo; Goldilocks, be nice to Hamfast; Hamfast, take those blankets off, its not that cold; Daisy, remember, your shirt goes over your head; Rosie, is Primrose with you?" he yelled out commands and questions as hobbits slowly stuck their heads out from their rooms and walked towards the kitchen.

"Yes, Da," almost all the children answered.

"Yes, Sam, she's here in her crib," Rosie assured him.

"I have to get breakfast ready, remember, all the children out of the house by 9," Rosie rushed helped her husband herd all their children towards the food.

"Why 9?" Merry and Pippin looked up at their mother.

"Today we start school, remember?" Frodo-lad explained, helping to keep the all the children under control.

"What?!" the two brothers stopped suddenly, causing Rose to run in to them with a shriek.

"Merry! Pippin! MOVE!" she screamed, shoving them out of the way.

"Stop being so stupid, Rose," Pippin-lad replied angrily.

Rose gasped and went pale, then began to wail, "MOMMY! Pippin called me stupid! He's not supposed to say that, is he?"

Turning to Pippin, she added in a whisper, "Ha! Now you're in trouble!"

Rosie sighed, scooping up her little lass and whacking Pippin-lad softly on the head.

"Rose, its alright, I'm sure he didn't mean it. Pippin, don't say that about your sister," she warned.

"Sorry, Mum..." Pippin-lad replied.

After several more minutes of general chaos, all the children (except Primrose who was just a baby) finally made it into the kitchen and had been sat down and given food.

"Now, everyone listen," Sam said loudly, getting everyone's attention.

"As some of you know, today is the first day of school," he began. Groans sprung up from all around the table and Merry began to loudly protest by banging his fists on the table.

"Quiet!" Sam roared, instantly causing the table to be silent.  
"Now...Elanor, you and Rose will stay together in school and watch out for each other, alright?" Sam asked, receiving a nod from both lasses.

"Frodo, you take care of Hamfast. Merry, Pippin, I want you two to keep out of trouble for at least the first week. Goldilocks, I want you to show Daisy around; its her first time going to school," he looked around at everyone who nodded.

"Everything you'll need for school is in your rooms...you have twenty-five minutes to get dressed and ready for school. Ladie's first," he sat back, watching Rose sprint out of the kitchen to claim the bathroom first. Elanor followed her, with Daisy close behind. Goldilocks sighed and walked slowly after them, turning back to give her mother a pleading look. Rosie shook her head and motioned for her to keep walking.

As soon as all the lasses had left, Merry and Pippin shot out of their chairs, racing to see who could get out of the kitchen first. Frodo trotted after them, laughing as they got stuck in the narrow doorway.

"Come on, Hamfast," Frodo-lad smiled down at the little lad, who cautiously stood up and followed his older brother down the hall.

Sam gave out a great sigh and looked at his wife.

"Well... I'm betting at least four of them are already planning ways to skip the first day of school," he said with a grin. Rosie laughed and nodded.

"Merry and Pippin for sure...they'll probably got Goldilocks to help them...maybe drag Hamfast along," she chuckled softly.

"Do you think we'll manage to get all of them to school on time?" he asked.

"Do we ever?" Rosie asked back, causing Sam to smile again and shake his head.

"No."

(((!!!)))

Merry slowly lifted his teacup, staring intently through the front window of his hobbit hole. Estella took a cup of tea, joining him in watching the event outside their hobbit hole.

"Poor Sam and Rosie," he observed, as he watched Merry-lad and Pippin-lad hop over the bushes and attempt to escape, while Daisy began to cry from all the confusion. Rose was screaming something about her hair, while Elanor and Sroto were having a whispered conversation together.

"What do you think they're planning?" Estella asked casually, motioning towards the two older lasses. Merry shrugged.

"You are the lady...your minds are a mystery to us," he answered with a grin, then a chuckle as he watched Sam and Frodo-lad attempt to catch the escaping brothers (Merry and Pippin).

"Children are so wonderful, aren't they?" he added, as Pippin walked on to the street, dragging a screaming and kicking Faramir.

"Most lovely creatures in Middle-Earth," Estella answered.

"Why don't we have any?" Merry asked, turning to look at his wife.

"In time, my dear," was the same answer she had given him every time he asked.

"When?" he asked quietly, softly, still watching as Sam splashed through a field full of mud puddles attempting to stop his two lads, while Rosie tried to clean up Daisy's teary face. Estella smiled and turned to look at him.

"Soon."

(((!!!)))

Hope you liked it and remember- R&R!


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